The word "Christian" is nearly as ambiguous as the word "love" in the English language. Ask 5 people what it means and you’ll likely get five different answers. Often it’s used to describe the following:
- a church member
- someone who has been baptized or confirmed
- someone who is very moral
- someone who is very religious
But if you look to the Bible for a definition of Christianity, you’ll see that it is none of those things.
So what does it mean to be a Christian?
The simplest answer is this: a follower of Jesus Christ. Of course, in this day and age that, too, is also fairly ambiguous.
So let’s start with the basics. How do you become a follower of Jesus Christ? That’s probably the simplest question to answer.
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9-13 NIV)
I really like what the Message says here too (emphasis mine):
Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not "doing" anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!" Scripture reassures us, "No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it." It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. "Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help."
It’s all about realizing that you’re a sinner and that there’s nothing you can do by your own power to redeem yourself. It’s about calling on Jesus to become Lord of your life and allowing Him to change you from the inside out.
Once you take the initiative to call on Jesus, then a process has started in your life. A process that changes you to become more like Christ in attitudes, ambitions, and actions.
From Jim Berg’s Changed Into His Image:
Christlikeness is not the same as following a moral or ethical ideal. It is not simply possessing more knowledge of Bible content or Bible principles. It is not merely replacing old habits with new ones or being and doing good. Furthermore, it is not becoming well-adjusted or recovering from some life-dominating sin. Christlikeness is the manifestation of the fruit of God’s Spirit* in the life of a believer beholding the glory of God.
[...]
While living on this earth, Jesus Christ exemplified the characteristics of a man controlled by the Holy Spirit and in perfect fellowship with God. His submission to and dependence upon His Father and His sacrificial ministry to others blended those characteristics into a perfect ideal Paul called "the form [nature] of a servant" (Phil. 2:7). Servanthood is grown-up Christianity.
*The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Jim goes on to talk about how the word "servant" means little to nothing to modern man, but to a first-century believer the word was filled with meaning. The NT word that corresponds is diakonos which appears more than sixty times. It’s the Greek word that we get the word "deacon" from and describes someone who is actively involved in meeting the needs of others. Jesus used the word in Matt. 20:25-26, 28; Matt. 23:11-12; Mark 9:35; and John 12:26. According to Berg,"In these passages our Lord taught that those most exalted in His scheme of events had an attitude of "otherness." Their energies and concerns were not with themselves and how others could serve them but on how they could become a blessing to someone else."
A useful first-century slave did not hang around the shadows hoping he would not be called upon to perform a task. He was right in the middle of the action–washing feet, filling water pots, tutoring children, working in the fields, running errands, and so forth. God’s attributes of love, compassion, kindness, patience, and mercy, when manifested in the life of a believer beholding the glory of God, result in Christlike service for others. This servanthood is grown-up Christianity!
Examples of this servanthood include:
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:12-17)
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Romans 15:1-7)
But there is another aspect of Christlike servanthood. There is another Greek word, doulus, that emphasizes the second aspect of slavery–being responsive to the will of another. This word speaks to the total ownership and sovereignty of the individual by someone else.* Used 125 times in the NT, it eventually took on a different meaning in the Christian use of the word. Paul used it in Romans 1:1 and elsewhere when he called himself "a servant of Jesus Christ." John the Apostle used it in the same way in Revelation 1:1. According to Berg, "These men were stressing their total submission to their Master, Jesus Christ. They were testifying of their responsiveness to His will–to His commands."
*See Matthew 8:9, 22:1-14; Mark 12:1-5, and Luke 12:41-47; 14 16-23 to see how first century slaves were quick to respond to the will of their masters.
This aspect of servanthood is often overlooked in our freethinking, democratic society. By this definition, many believers are not very good servants.
[...]
There was no doubt about the obedience required of first-century slaves.* They belonged to someone else and were expected to carry out the wishes of their master without complaint or back talk. They were to submit even to unreasonable masters with a single-minded humility that "adorned" the gospel they professed. Our Lord Himself played by His own rules; He came to this earth and responded to His human authorities the same way.
Christlikeness, then, will be evidenced in doing good for others; but just as important, it will be evidenced by submission to authority. Those who want the image of being a "good Christian" but who are not good servants will have a fierce struggle with submission.
*See Eph. 6:5-8; Col. 3:22-25; 1 Tim. 6:1-2; and Titus 2:9-10
Peter gave a great testimony of how Christ suffered at the hands of human authority in 1 Peter 2:21-23, "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."
It is these two issues–being responsive to the needs of others and being responsive to the will of our masters–that are the true tests of Christianity.
Let’s take it one step further. In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
This is a mandate for our lives to have a Christlike influence on others.
What is influence? It’s simply making a difference in the lives of others. Basically, you have to be different to make a difference. You cannot change anything by adding more of the same. An example:
Suppose you have in front of you a glass of unsweetened iced tea, but you do not like unsweetened tea. You wish, therefore, to add something to your glass of tea to change the taste. You cannot change the taste by pouring more unsweetened tea into the glass. You must add something different to the glass, such as sugar, lemon, or ginger ale.
It’s the same thing with people. You must be different to make a difference. That’s the significance of Jesus’ words in the Matthew passage.
There is still much to be said on the topic, but this is already much longer than I anticipated. What I was trying to get across is that Christianity is not a set of rules or commands that you must follow. It’s not a moral code. It is a relationship. And as a result of that relationship, the Christian is transformed into a servant who is like Christ.
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